1. Dissociative Disorders
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Dissociative Amnesia
Dissociative Fugue
Depersonalization Disorder

2. Dissociative Identity Disorder
A. The presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states
B. At least two of these identities or personality states recurrently take control of the person’s behavior
C. Inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness

3. Dissociative Identity Disorder
Identities
Can be categorized into three types:
Core identity: superego
1st alternate identity: id
2nd alternate identity: ego

4. Dissociative Identity Disorder
Prevalence
Up for debate
Rates have increased dramatically over few decades
First case reported in the 1850’s
Several cases in 1880’s-1900’s
By the 1970’s, only about 200 cases in all
Now, some psychologists claim that up to 1% of the general population has this disorder
Individual clinicians are not reporting having dozens to hundreds of such clients

5. Dissociative Identity Disorder
Explanations for increasing prevalence:
Increased public awareness of the disorder
Changes in the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia
Therapists may be actively looking for DID
Prevalence, continued…
Rates very uneven across countries
Rates very uneven across clinicians within countries
The rates of this disorder is very controversial…some psychologists doubt its existence at all

6. Dissociative Identity Disorder
Risk Factors
Severe child abuse, especially sexual abuse (reported in 95%) of cases
Remembered or Recovered???
Having generous psychiatric medical coverage

7. Dissociative Identity Disorder
Can people actually dissociate?
Have you had a dissociative experience?
Common dissociative experiences
Reading a paragraph and then having no recollection of what you read
Driving somewhere and not knowing how you got there
Talking to someone and not knowing what you’re actually talking about

8. Dissociative Identity Disorder
Perhaps there is an underlying continuum…
Normal Dissociative Experiences
Dissociative Identity Disorder

9. Dissociative Amnesia
One or more episodes of inability to recall important personal information, usually of a traumatic or stressful nature, that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness
Symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in functioning

10. Dissociative Fugue
Sudden, unexpected travel away from home or one’s customary place of work, with inability to recall one’s past
Confusion about personal identity or assumption of a new identity (partial or complete)
Not better explained by a another mental disorder and is not due to a substance
Symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in functioning

11. Depersonalization Disorder
Persistent or recurrent experiences of feeling detached from, and as if one is an outside observer of, one’s mental processes or body
During the depersonalization experience, reality testing remains intact
Not better explained by a another mental disorder and is not due to a substance
Symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in functioning